Lifelock Worries After Employee Data Leaked To Web

itwbennett writes "Last week, Phoenix New Times reporter Ray Stein revealed that LifeLock CEO Todd Davis (who famously published his Social Security number in LifeLock ads) had been the victim of identity theft at least 13 times. This week, LifeLock made it clear that it's not so cavalier with its employees' personal data. The company asked the New Times to remove from its website a police report containing a redacted Social Security number, date of birth, address, and phone number of Lifelock employee Tamika Jones. In an interview, Stein said that the fact that LifeLock had to call and ask for the document to be removed reflected badly on Lifelock's service. 'I think this shows clearly that they know that it's got potential problems.'"

Comments

Fraud Alert != Fraud Immunity

[mysidia]

Not everyone reviews a credit report before issuing any type of credit.

ID thieves can potentially abuse personal information, no matter how many types of fraud alerts you put, there is no guarantee that it will be seen by every third party.

Or the ID thief may employee social engineering and even defeat the 'fraud alert'

Todd Davis' publishing his social security number is a gimmick, and he should understand the risks, and chose to do so anyway, clearly as a publicity stunt.

As CEO and well-known media figure he can probably more easily deal with any ills that result than the average joe, and rely on his company to pay all the money and take all the hassle haggling with creditors of ID thief.

Minor cost well worth the publicity.

His SSN is also more likely to be recognized by banks, and (I suspect) he has little need to himself apply for credit, personally, otherwise he would not do it.

As for other employees of the company.... they have not agreed to this, not agreed to the hassle, and are in a much poorer position to defend themselves against ID theft. They have every right to their privacy, and to not have media organizations publish redacted/legally sealed or legally witheld info.

Re:Fraud Alert != Fraud Immunity

[Shakrai]

no matter how many types of fraud alerts you put

Better than a fraud alert is the security freeze. They won't open a new account if they can't see your credit report. The security freeze shouldn't even be a major inconvenience, unless you are one of the champs that applies for every new credit and store card under the sun.

Police fail to properly redact data

[logjon]

Where is that story? Oh, lifelock is an easier target. I understand.